. A term coined by Ursula Gunther to distinguish the style of French music cultivated approximately during the time of the papal Schism (1378-1417) from the earlier Ars Nova. As with Ars Nova, the name derives from treatises on musical notation. Most Ars Subtilior works were written in the south of France, at the court of Aragon, or in northern Italy. The musical style, seen in fixed-form chansons as well as in motets, is characterized primarily by extreme rhythmic complexity, including frequent changes of meters, conflicting meters in different voices, complex proportional relationships, and “displacement syncopation," in which a prevailing meter (e. g., 6/8 in modern transcription) is displaced by one or two eighth notes for a lengthy passage. The music requires a vast assortment of notational symbols, including red notation, note heads with odd hooks and tails, and complex time signatures. Composers who cultivated this style include Matheus de Sancto Johanne, Solage, Cuvelier, Jacob de Senleches, Johannes Ciconia, and the Italians Mateo da Perugia and Philippus de Caserta.
Lawrence Earp
[See also: ARS NOVA; CICONIA, JOHANNES; COMPOSERS, MINOR (14TH CENTURY); FORMES FIXES; ISORHYTHMIC MOTET; JACOB DE SENLECHES; MATHEUS DE SANCTO JOHANNE]
Gunther, Ursula. “Das Ende der ars nova." Die Musikforschung 16(1963):105-21.
Strohm, Reinhard. The Rise of European Music 1380-1500. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1993.
World History
